26th March 2021
| Leshia Hawkins
Cricket Wales welcomes the announcement by Welsh Government today that organised outdoor activity for children and young people aged 18 and under, will be legally permissible from tomorrow, Saturday 27th March 2021, and we would like to share the following update with our participants, parents, clubs, volunteers and communities.
Guidance
Further to today's announcement, we are now analysing the specifics of the new regulations and associated guidance from Welsh Government and are agreeing and finalising, with the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), our updated Cricket-specific guidance for Wales, aligned to, and reflective of, the latest Welsh Government rules. We will publish this as soon as we can next week.
In addition to the easing of restrictions on organised outdoor children’s activity, it has also been confirmed that, from tomorrow, outdoor, 2-household, exercise group-size limits will be permitted to increase from a maximum of four people to SIX. This change will also be reflected in the updated guidance when it is published.
Travel restrictions
The ‘Stay Local’ guidance will also be lifted within Wales from tomorrow, however people will still be asked to remain in Wales for the time being, except for those with a ‘reasonable excuse’ to travel, as listed in the law.
The interim 'All-Wales travel area' is due to be re-considered at the next review, and may be lifted from 12th April, subject to the public health situation. We will confirm and communicate any implications of travel restriction changes on cricket activity for people living in Wales as soon as they are made known.
Pre-Election period
Wales in now in a pre-election period, previously known as ‘purdah’. This describes the period of time immediately before elections or referendums when there are specific restrictions on communications activity of governments. This will impact the amount of Welsh Government briefings in this time and what they can say publicly. Critical legislation amends can still be made as part of the legal 3-week reviews of the Coronavirus legislation during this time, however.
Adult and over-18s’ Organised Activity
The next legal reviews of Welsh Coronavirus legislation are due on 1st April and then 22nd April.
22nd April is the point at which organised group activity for over-18s, including sport, taking place in Wales is due to be considered, per the most recent issue of the Welsh Government control plan.
We will follow the same process as above, aligning our sport-specific guidance to the new regulations when they come into force.
Regrettably, in the meantime, we need to confirm that there should be NO organised outdoor adult activity, including group (3+ households) training, or fixtures arranged to take place in Wales in the next 4 weeks - and we must ask participants to limit themselves to the maximum 2-household exercise restrictions, if they wish to undertake cricket-related activity during this time.
We do, however, remain optimistic for a start, as scheduled, of the vast majority of competitive fixtures in Wales, and we hope to be able to deliver as full a summer as possible for participants of all ages, if public health conditions continue to remain favourable.
Summer of Fun, 2021
As a naturally socially-distanced, summer sport, we are fortunate that there are likely to only be minor adaptations required to be made to our sport to allow us to enjoy it, when we can all gather again safely and legally.
In the meantime, in addition to permitted junior activity, ECB’s National Programmes for kids, All Stars Cricket (for 5-8 year-olds) and Dynamos Cricket (for 8-11 year-olds), are scheduled to run in Wales from 7th May, across the summer.
We have nearly 200 sessions available in Wales across both programmes, so there will be one near you for your youngster to get involved in the fun.
You can find more details and your nearest club and sign up here
Cricket Wales would like to thank the Welsh Cricket Family for their continued support, patience and understanding over the coming days and weeks, and we look forward to EVERYONE being able to safely enjoy cricket again as soon as possible.